Fellow Torture Victim and Old Rival
by StarkContrastStartles
Summary: Ziva meets an old rival from her Mossad days who happens to be a fellow torture victim. Memories of Somalia, Mossad and Ziva's Childhood.  Some Tiva, some slightly lesbian Ziva but not out of character. Self harm also.
1. Chapter 1

Tony nodded curtly at Ziva and she kicked down the door with a swift kick. Grasping their guns, they both moved in. Tony jogged through the rooms at the front of the abandoned ranch while Ziva waited by the door, gun poised. A lidded box caught her eye and she peered inside. The box was filled to the brim with guns, knives and other weapons. She reached a hand tentatively in and pulled out a handful of hand grenades. She whistled softly with admiration. They were handmade and the detail of their construction was perfect. Tony called out that the rooms he had checked were clear and together they walked towards the unchecked rooms at the back of the ranch.

One room was left and, after Tony gave the signal, Ziva kicked down the second door of the day. They rushed into the room; guns raised and swivelled round in a circle to check all angles. In the corner, there was door, half concealed by a cupboard. Ziva turned the handle and the door opened with ease. She darted in and dropped her gun in surprise. Hearing the clattering of Ziva's gun on the bare wooden floorboards, Tony gave a cry of alarm and Ziva stooped, still stunned, to pick it up.

Tony joined her in the room and grimaced at the sight. It reminded him of Ziva when they rescued her in Somalia, but ten times worse. This victim had burns on her face and her eyes were swollen so that she could barely see. She was chained by all hands and feet to the four corners of the room, her body suspended by the tension in the chains. Her face was contorted into a snarl of pain. She had rope lashes on her trembling arms and bruises littered her legs. There were deep welts at the top of her thighs and out of one of them protruded a screwdriver. A small table was situated menacingly in the corner and was covered with instruments of torture; knives, whips, hammers, tweezers, tasers, cord and sex toys. The girl strung up in such a fashion was unconscious but her heaving chest showed that she was very much alive.

Ziva let out a whimper or dismay and Tony pulled his eyes of the scene of pain to fix on Ziva. She was crouched in the corner, her eyes wildly roaming the spectacle, her mouth forming words but no sound was emitted. Tony crouched down beside her and laid a hand on her shoulder to soothe her shivering body.

'Ziva,' he whispered. 'It's okay. You're safe.'

She turned to him, her face ashen. 'But she's not,' her voice hoarsely replied.

Tony frowned and glanced over his shoulder to the comatose figure behind him. His eyes flickered questioningly into Ziva's and she lowered them to gaze at the floor. 'Ziva,' he prompted.

Her eyes met his and her eyelids trembled and threatened to close. Tears squeezed themselves out, despite her attempts to quench her sorrow.

A groan came from behind them and Tony swung around. The inert form was slowly springing into action. She twisted her battered head to see who was in the room and she let out a short gasp when she saw the two friendly intruders. The cloudy world swam into clear view and a sneer widened the scorched edges of her mouth.

'I am waking from a nightmare to stare straight into the beast's mouth,' she mocked. Tony looked between the derisive eyes of the current torture victim and the pleading eyes of the ex torture victim. He pitied the former but loved the latter and so he took an involuntary step towards his partner.

Ziva spoke next, breaking the intolerable, heavy silence. 'I thought you were dead.' Her voice cracked.

Another smile stretched across the scarred face. 'So did I.'

The words were figurative and Tony frowned but Ziva nodded, fully understanding.

'You should have died. Saved us all the hassle.' Ziva voice had calmed and she was speaking with authority but he steely reserve was easily matched and surpassed by the coolness of the replying voice that seemed so unnatural coming from the charred remains of a body. It was like a corpse was taunting Ziva.

'You would have preferred it that way, would you not?' Her accent was similar to Ziva's but there were marked differences. Ziva's was lighter and less defined; it had morphed into a more American sounding nasal drawl. 'This is a quaint reunion but maybe your friend would like to untie me?' At this tired remark that was thrown in his direction, Tony leapt to her aid and unchained her, cutting through the chains with immense difficulty.

'These chains are thicker than usual,' he grunted, sweating profusely from the exertion.

'Yes,' the captive acknowledged. 'I kept breaking through the standard sized ones so they invested in stronger ones.' Tony stared at the visible muscles bulging beneath the blistered skin laced with deep slits. For any other woman the large muscles would have looked hench and brutish but on her they retained a feminine intrigue and inspired awe in Tony.

His efforts finally broke through the thick chains and she fell to the ground with a moan of pain. Tony gasped as he realised his mistake in not readying himself to catch her and held out his hands to help her up, but she ignored the gesture and sprang lightly to her feet with the agility of a maimed cat.

The newly freed prisoner stood up and squared up to Ziva, preparing her aching muscles for a physically taxing fight. She was already emotionally drained but she had started off with so much spark that even when it had all gone she still had some character and energy. A lopsided grin had appeared and was mocking Ziva who held up her end of the taciturn confrontation with an amused grin which concealed her apprehension.

'It's been a while,' her opponent remarked sociably. Ziva nodded.

'Ten years,' she added.

'Ten years since we met. How long since you thought of me?' Her voice was faintly aggressive but to all outward appearances it was merely teasing.

'I hate you,' spat Ziva, forgetting to contain her distaste.

The girl chuckled and placed a hand on Ziva's shoulder. 'There's a thin line between love and hate, Ziva.' The emphasis she put on _love _sent a shiver down both Ziva and Tony's spine. 'We crossed back and forth a lot. It does not concern me if I am resting on the hate.' There was a short pause before she continued, 'at the moment.'

'Always,' Ziva corrected. 'I will never love you.'

'Again,' the girl added. Ziva scowled petulantly. 'Last time I saw you, you were naked and so was I.'


	2. Chapter 2

Tony's widened in shock at her last remark and Ziva's fist unleashed its full force on the girl's already battered face. Her fist was blocked easily by the other girl and Ziva cursed outwardly in Hebrew. Tony quickly stepped in between the two to separate them.

'That is not necessary, Tony. I can control myself,' Ziva reassured him.

'And if not, I can take care of myself,' the girl added.

Tony leant in to whisper to Ziva. 'She has already been beaten up. You cannot hit her wile she is in this state,' he reprimanded. Ziva kept his gaze but her eyes were sheepish as well as defiant.

'You have not introduced me, Ziva,' the girl interrupted.

Ziva stepped out from behind Tony and raised her eyebrows before obeying the request cautiously. 'Tony. Aaliyah. She worked with me on a few operations.' Her eyes narrowed as she made this admission and Aaliyah's smile widened with pleasure at Ziva's pained reaction.

'We have a lot of catching up to do,' Aaliyah suggested. Ziva nodded curtly. They began to circle on another like wild animals warming up to attack their prey. Which one was the predator and which one was the prey was unclear.

'I heard you work for the Americans now.' Her voice did not attempt to conceal the disgust dripping from her voice.

'Yes, they are very good to me.' Ziva's voice had relapsed into a full Israel accent though she still spoke English.

'You have gone soft. Ten years ago you would have left me here to die, maybe even thrown a couple of punches yourself. You wouldn't have dreamed of releasing me.'

'Times change. Nine years ago I would not have dreamt of letting you die,' Ziva countered.

'True,' Aaliyah admitted. 'But nine years ago you did not know me very well.' She took a step closer to Ziva. 'Now, you know me very well.' She stepped closer so that Ziva could feel her warm breath on her face. 'Intimately.' Ziva shuddered and stepped away. Aaliyah smirked.

'I did not release you,' Ziva found an argument to defend herself with. 'He did.'

'You did not stop him,' Aaliyah's voice was musical but not soft, it was sinister and haunting music. 'You stepped in here first. You even dropped your gun.' Ziva blushed as she recalled her reaction to the sight of her old acquaintance. 'You could have shot me.'

'I have a different view of how what it means to have a partner now,' Ziva hissed. 'I do not have to hate everyone anymore.'

Tony butted into the conversation at the thinly veiled reference to him. 'Keep talking about the partners, Ziva.'

'Yes, Ziva,' Aaliyah agreed. 'How is your new partnership different to ours?'

'I trust him.' It was a simple statement but it hit Tony hard.

'You did not trust me?' inquired Ziva's old partner.

'I trust him with more than my life.'

'Go on,' Tony urged.

'You love him.' It was not a question, but a statement with both empathetic and repulsed undertones.

Tony clenched all his muscles, waiting tensely for Ziva's answer.

She hesitated and made Tony wait and endure an agony worse than any he had ever experienced.

'I trust him with my heart.' It was not the answer Tony had been hoping for, but deep down he had expected a flat 'No' so he was pleased with the indecisive answer. A smile flickered across his face as he realised that she had made a reference to her heart and him in the same sentence. That had to be a good sign.

Aaliyah noticed her baulking from a conclusive answer so she pressed on. 'You love him,' she repeated snidely.

Ziva shook her head and turned to leave but was faced with Tony's crestfallen face. She realised that she had just denied the statement point blank. She had laughed off the suggestion in front of Tony many times before but this time felt different. The situation was almost surreal. She was having a conversation with a victim of brutal torture about her love life standing next to instruments of abuse.

'Tony is my partner,' she stated with finality.

Aaliyah raised her eyebrows and Ziva's gun at the same time. It had remained on the floor so far but the butt was now pointing directly at Tony's heart.

'What are you doing?' cried Ziva hysterically.

'You love him.' The explanation was flat and emotionless.

'So?' Ziva shrieked.

'What comes around goes around. Or do you not remember squeezing that particular trigger,' came the snarling response.

'What?' Ziva was frowning, genuinely confused while Tony stood there helpless.

'Come on, Ziva. Do not pretend with me. I can see right through you,' she spat.

Ziva's face lit up as it dawned on her but fell instantaneously when it sank in. 'But you did not love him,' she protested.

'Shows how much you know.'

Ziva's eyes narrowed. 'What do you mean?'

'When he was in America, he called me. He invited to visit him. We had a long overdue honeymoon.' Her voice had transposed to become soft and fragile and Ziva's expression mirrored her former partner's tone.

'What?' she pushed gently.

'That is right. I am not only your former partner, friend, lover, enemy, but also your former sister in law.'

'You were Ari's wife?' Ziva squawked.

'You killed my love, I kill yours.' The tenderness had flown from her voice and it was hard and cold once more. 'That is fair, yes?'

'No, Aali. Ari was a traitor. Tony has done nothing wrong. He does not deserve to die.'

'A traitor to whom, Ziva? His loyalty was not with Israel and he never betrayed Hamas,' she countered scathingly.

'He should have been loyal to Israel. He was a cold blooded killer.' Ziva was almost yelling now.

'Just like you. And just like me. We do not always kill in the heat of the moment. Assassinations are planned. Our blood is icy when we detonate the bomb or throw the knife.' She paused and the silence caused was weighty with tension and dread. 'Or pull the trigger.' She brandished her gun menacingly and Tony gulped. He felt like a spectator to his own death. 'I will kill your partner now,' she informed Ziva cooly.


	3. Chapter 3

'_I will kill your partner now,' she informed Ziva coolly._

'Aali, do you remember what we shared?' Ziva asked calmly. Tony's eyes widened in fear, shock and anger as he witnessed his partner be so blasé about his imminent death.

Aali paused and her gun hovered in mid air, still pointing, cocked, at Tony. 'I do,' she replied cautiously. 'What of it?'

'Don't do this.' Ziva spoke with unhesitating authority and her decisive words made the possible killer stop and turn to her.

'Why?' she spat. 'What do I owe you? You killed Ari.'

'He was a traitor,' Ziva shot back. 'I had to.'

'You did not have to do anything. You were his sister. You should have accepted him.' The previously collected assassin had fired up and was directing her white hot passion at Ziva, Tony stood forgotten.

'I cannot accept a terrorist,' Ziva returned.

'You are no better than he was. He killed in cold blood and so did you.' Her argument was scathing and her words sliced through Ziva like a sharpened blade, sliding through her body and damaging her core but without instant, noticeable pain.

'He killed innocent people, just like you are about to.'

'If this man is your friend he is not innocent.'

Ziva finally turned to Tony and focused her spicy eyes on his trembling face. 'He is a good man.' All the fury had dissipated from her voice and all that was left was a tender affection.

'Collateral damage,' Aali dismissed.

Her attitude riled Ziva back up and she squared up for a fight. 'There is no such thing,' she hissed.

'Is that another American idea you have lapped up?' she asked contemptuously.

'I _am _American,' Ziva yelled, trying to convince herself as well as her former partner.

'You will never escape Mossad.' A sinister glint flickered through her eyes. Ziva shuddered, not able to contemplate what would come next. 'It is in your blood.' She paused and smirked devilishly. 'Literally.' At this, Ziva paled and her exotic became ashen grey.

'Don't,' she pleaded hoarsely.

'Don't what?' Aali asked innocently. 'Tell your partner about our extracurricular activities?' She lowered her gun and turned to face Tony. 'They went way beyond sexual.'

Tony sensed an imminent fight to the death so he smiled blandly and moved protectively towards Ziva. 'Uh huh,' he replied anxiously. 'It really is time for us to be leaving now,' he whispered.

Aali shook her head and raised her arm, now without a gun in its grasp. Her other hand slowly began to slide up, tracing a dry scar, not recently created. Ziva gasped and stumbled backwards, all her strength gone.

'Please,' she begged. Her ex-friend cackled harshly and held out her arm to Tony. It hovered in front of his eye line for a second before it darted forward to grab Ziva's wrist. Ziva cried out in pain as Aali twisted it until it was also in Tony's sight. Ziva struggled but the other girl was too powerful and Ziva soon submitted to Tony's scrutiny. Tony frowned. He had never seen Ziva's arm up so close before and he had never realised that she too had a long, ancient scar running the length of her arm from her wrist to her shoulder blade. It was artfully disguised with make up but it was still recognisable as identical to her old friend's.

'What is this, Ziva?' he questioned.

'Please,' Ziva repeated pathetically.

'What is this scar?' Tony was angry now and didn't plan on giving up until he got an answer. Ziva understood his determination but was unable to reply.

'Brings back memories.' Aali's voice slashed through the heavy silence. 'We used to hold out our arms while we slept, didn't we Ziva?' She paused to allow the words to sink in. 'Our bloody knives still stuck in the gash.'

Ziva let out a pitiful whimper which lengthened into a wail as she saw Tony's horrified face.

'Ziva?' he accused.

'Tony,' she beseeched. 'You don't know...' she trailed off.

'I don't know what?' he asked, his voice a mixture of sympathy and hardness.

'What it was like,' she explained mournfully. 'My father, her father, our job, what we did...' she looked up at him through moist eyelashes. 'It was too much.' Her voice broke and tears began to stream down her flushed cheeks.

Aali snorted derisively. 'Americans,' she spat scornfully.

'Get out,' Tony commanded. She raised her eyebrows challengingly. 'Get out!' he repeated before yelling the order once more. 'Get out!'

She chuckled. 'This isn't the last time you will hear from me,' she informed them. 'Ziva has other secrets to reveal.' The malice in her tone was undisguised and Tony felt a wave of revulsion for the sadistic creature. 'I'll leave you to write the report,' she added conversationally.

Once she had left the room, Ziva sank down in the corner, staring transfixed on the chains and instruments of torture. Tony joined her on the floor, his eyes desperately trying not to look at the scar. The simple cut was laden with so much hatred and self-loathing that the sight of it made him nauseous. 'Ziva was strong, she wouldn't do that to herself,' he told himself.

'Ziva?' he ventured carefully.

'What?' she snapped, suddenly reverting to her usual self.

'Ziva, look at me,' he ordered. She refused and kept her eyes firmly on the knife which was lying dangerously within arm's reach. He took both her shaking hands in his strong, large ones and looked her directly in the eye. Normally her eyes were confident and striking but now they were twitchy and watery. He felt tremendously uncomfortable staring at her like that but he held his gaze. 'Talk to me, Ziva. You can't keep it all in.' She lowered her head, preparing to break the bond between them. 'I thought we were done with the secrets.'

'Tony,' Ziva whispered, her weak voice barely audible. 'I didn't know what to say.' She rested her head on his shoulder. 'I am sorry,' she breathed.

'It's ok, Ziva. You're safe now,' Tony soothed his distressed partner. 'We all love you here.' She pulled away at the last part. 'I love you.' A smile faltered on her tear stained face. 'As a partner,' he added quickly.

'Of course,' she answered.

Tony's ringtone filled the room with its coarse, unsympathetic tune and the affectionate moment was broken. 'DiNozzo,' Tony snapped. 'Oh, hi Boss.' He grimaced and Ziva giggled. 'We, uh, hit a glitch but...' he waited for Gibbs to finish before continuing. 'We took care of it. We are coming back now.' He snapped the phone shut without waiting for his formidable boss's reply. He stood up and offered Ziva a hand. She grasped it and was pulled up and into his warm body. 'We are going home,' he repeated softly. He felt her head nod on his chest and he smiled sadly.

They left the room. Tony shivered as he passed back through the doorway, recalling his entrance which preceded the rest of the chilling events. He hoped that the room would be like Las Vegas and what had happened there would stay there forever. Somehow, he doubted this, but it was a reassuring thought. Ziva cast one last lingering look at each of the tools used to torture her old self-torturing companion before leaving. Tony know knew too much about her and she hated him for it but she also felt safer with him now as she had one less secret to hide from him. Of course, there were many more.

Neither of them ever returned to the room but the revelations from it were never forgotten, never spoken about and never let slip to anyone else.


End file.
